The Rich Are Already Paying Their 'Fair Share' of Taxes

In a speech Monday, President Obama outlined his plan to raise $1.5 trillion in new revenue over the next 10 years: Soak the rich. That’s right, those greedy, private jet-flying, ATM-abusing, yacht-loving corporate fat cats need to start pulling their weight in this economy.

They just need to pay their fair share.

Those are some pretty strong words from someone claiming that he’s not promoting class warfare. Actions speak louder than words, Mr. President, and the Congressional Budget Office can’t score your speeches. You can say the rich need to pay their fair share as many times as you like, but it won’t change the fact that they are already paying way more than that.

Justin Hart pulled some numbers from the IRS and did a little bit of math and figured out that people making over a million dollars a year account for 0.29 percent of all tax returns filed, earn 10.73 percent of all taxable gross income, and pay a whopping 20.52 percent of the taxes paid. I know; math is hard and facts are even harder.

We don’t have a revenue problem in the United States -- we have a spending problem. Raising taxes on small businesses is not going to create jobs; it’s going to kill them. President Obama said so himself: “You don’t raise taxes in a recession.”

Maybe I missed the news that the recession was over. My unemployed friends will be ecstatic to hear it.

Instead of raising taxes, maybe President Obama could cut some of the careless and sometimes dangerous spending in Washington. Here are some suggestions: